美国政府调查爱德华.斯诺顿泄密案

The U.S. government is investigating whether the disclosure of a highly classified U.S. surveillance program by Edward Snowden was criminal.

Snowden said Sunday he is the source for news reports of the U.S. National Security Agency's monitoring of phone calls and Internet data for threats of terrorism, a program the Obama administration says keeps America safe from terrorists.

Meanwhile, European officials are examining the spy programs and whether they violated local privacy protections. European governments have been trying to explain whether they let Washington spy on their citizens or benefited from snooping that would be illegal at home

EU officials in Brussels pledged to seek answers from U.S. diplomats at a ministerial meeting later this week in Dublin.

In Washington, lawmakers say they are looking at potential ways to keep the United States safe from terror attacks without giving up privacy protections.

Snowden's whereabouts are unknown since he checked out of a Hong Kong hotel on Monday. He said he will seek asylum in any country that believes in free speech and global privacy.美国政府调查爱德华.斯诺顿泄密案是否属于刑事犯罪。斯诺登星期天说，是他把国家安全局监查电话和网络数据的消息透露给媒体的。奥巴马政府说，这个项目保护美国人的安全，使他们免受恐怖主义袭击。

与此同时， 欧洲官员也在审查本国的情报项目，看其是否侵犯了当地的隐私保护。欧洲政府还要解释他们是否允许美国情报部门对欧洲国家的公民进行侦察，并从欧洲国家认为是非法的侦探中获益。

布鲁塞尔的欧盟官员表示要在本星期晚些时候在都柏林召开的会议上向美国外交官提问。

在华盛顿，美国议员说，他们在研究有哪些办法可以避免美国免受恐怖主义袭击同时又能保护公民的隐私权。

斯诺登星期一结帐离开香港一家旅馆后下落不明。 他曾表示要到坚信言论自由和全球隐私权的国家寻求庇护。